The present invention relates to an instrument for use by dentists or surgeons for retracting and opening incisions in soft tissue, and more particularly to dental instruments used in the operation of bone grafting augmentation.
It is common in dentistry to build up the gum tissue of individuals who have lost their teeth and suffered bone decay in the alveolar process to provide support for artificial teeth. In cases in which there are natural abutment teeth of sufficient strength and rigidity, artificial teeth may be supported by conventional bridgework. However, this is not always the case, and it then becomes necessary to either implant a support structure in the jaw bone, or to build up the alveolar ridge of the jaw bones to provide a firm base on which to mount the artificial tooth.
Often surgical and dental procedures require the insertion of substitute bone graft materials or implant material through narrow and small incisions in tissue and it is desirably done with the incision retracted open to sufficient aperture to allow unhindered passage of materials of various shape and length with minimal trauma to receiving tissue. In dental procedures for augmentation of the alveolar ridge graft material, such as strings of hydroxyapatite pearls, is inserted in the narrow tunnel-like space between the gingival soft connective tissue and the alveolar ridge of the mandible.
Known methods of building up the alveolar ridge of jawbones include cutting a long incision along the gum tissue, inserting the graft material along the alveolar ridge, and stitching the gum over the graft material or, alternatively, cutting a small incision, spreading the incision, and inserting a tubule of graft material into the incision and along under the gum tissue and along the alveolar ridge, and then stitching up the incised gum opening. Cutting a small incision and spreading it apart is less invasive than cutting a longer incision, provides less trauma to the tissue, and requires fewer stitches. However, it is problematic to properly spread the small incision, and at the same time insert a flexible graft material into the small opening and along the bone line to build up the gums. With existing conventional hand held instruments it is cumbersome for dentists implanting material for ridge augmentation to retract the soft tissue opening in a form suited to accommodate the shape and size of implant material for passage with one hand while maintaining separation of connective tissue and bone as implant material is being coaxed in with the other hand. Due to mental nerve inervation and shrinkage of soft tissue with re-absorption and narrowing of mandibular alveolar ridge the incision size is limited complicating an otherwise simple step in procedure. Often dentists will go through a pick-up-and-put-down routine of several different dental instruments to tend to the various acts of broaching, retracting, tissue separating, and implanting during a ridge augmentation, which is disruptive of the dentist""s concentration and complicates what is otherwise a simple step in procedure. Moreover, often conventional instruments used to retract and maintain opening to the incision compromise or obstruct the available entrance space to the opening. Further complicating the process is the flexibility of existing graft material which does not remain rigid during the handling and insertion steps.
A need therefore remains for a dental surgical tool that will aid in the spreading of the incision and serve to guide the flexible graft material along under the gums and along the bone, to make the operation quicker and thus less traumatic to the individual. A need also remains for a method of using such a tool.
The following represents a list of known related art:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,225, to Winslow, et al., issued Jul. 4, 2000;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,147 to Moskovitz, et al., issued Apr. 6, 1999;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,329, to Stuck-McCormick, issued Oct. 5, 1999;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,962, to Rosenlicht, issued Jun. 29, 1999;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,033, to Elia, issued Jun. 2, 1998;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,235, to Elia, issued Mar. 14, 1995;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,639 to Weiss, et all, issued May 24, 1977; and
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,840 to Bori, issued Oct. 10, 1989.
The teachings of each of the above-listed citations (which does not itself incorporate essential material by reference) are herein incorporated by reference. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
Heretofore, a surgical tunnel retractor as described herein has not previously been provided. A surgical tool designed for use in inserting bone graft material into the gum tissue of a patient and along the bone line to augment the bone line, which is minimally invasive, and which requires only a small incision, and which serves to guide the insertion of material into and under the tissue and along the target bone has not been provided. A surgical tool designed for use in inserting bone graft material into the gum tissue of a patient and along the alveolar ridge of the inferior or superior maxilla to augment the alveolar ridge, which is minimally invasive, and which requires only a small incision, and which serves to guide the insertion of augmentation material into and under the tissue and along the target alveolar ridge zone has not been provided.
Therefore, it is highly desirable to create an article and method to meet these needs and objects. Potential customers for articles and methods that meet these objects include dentists, dental and surgical supply companies, oral surgeons, hospitals, clinics, medics, etc.